Browns: Looking at the coordinators remaining on the head coaching board

By
Jeff Schudel, The Morning Journal & The News-Herald

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

The Browns and Vikings, the first two teams to request an interview with Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase more than two weeks ago, are now the only NFL teams still without a head coach.
The Detroit Lions took down the “help wanted” sign from their window Tuesday when they hired former Colts head coach Jim Caldwell to replace Jim Schwartz. The Lions are the fifth team to hire a head coach following a wave of seven firings after the 2013 season.
The Browns and Vikings seem to have the same approach to their coaching search: Be patient and wait for the candidate of choice.
Four teams are in conference championship games Sunday — the Seahawks and 49ers in the NFC, plus the Broncos and Patriots in the AFC. All four have viable head coaching candidates. The Browns on Jan. 4 interviewed Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who withdrew his name from consideration four days later.
Greg Roman, offensive coordinator for the 49ers, plus 49ers defensive coordinator Vic Fangio are also possibilities as is Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, whom the Browns have already interviewed.
The Browns asked for permission to interview Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase on Dec. 30. He declined at the time, but according to the Denver Post, he will meet with the Browns when the Broncos either lose Sunday or after the Super Bowl.
The following is a quick rundown on each coordinator:
Greg Roman: He is in his third season as the 49ers offensive coordinator. He interviewed for the Penn State head coaching job last week and reportedly was a candidate to replace Mike Shanahan in Washington, but Redskins owner Dan Snyder hired Bengals offensive coordinator Jay Gruden instead.
Roman, 41, interviewed for the Vikings job on Saturday, one day before the 49ers beat Carolina to advance to the NFC championship game.
Roman, another graduate of John Carroll University with an important role in the NFL, followed 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh from Stanford to San Francisco. He was in his first year when current 49ers starting quarterback Colin Kaepernick was a rookie. Kaepernick started no games his first year (Alex Smith was the starter), seven last year and all 16 this year.
The 49ers scored 305 points in 2010. In the first year of the Harbaugh-Roman team, they scored 380 points and went 13-3. They were 11-4-1 last year and scored 397 points. They scored 406 points on their way to a 12-4 season in 2013.
Roman called a run-dominated game plan in 2013. Led by Frank Gore (1,128 yards, 276 carries), the 49ers ran the ball 505 times and passed it 417 times.
Vic Fangio: Fangio is 55. He broke into the NFL with the Saints in 1986. He remained in the NFL until 2010 when he left the Ravens (coached by John Harbaugh) to join Jim Harbaugh at Stanford. He followed Jim Harbaugh to the 49ers in 2011.
The 49ers led the league with 35 takeaways in 2011 and ranked fourth in total defense one year after ranking 13th. They were third in defense in 2012 and fifth in 2013. They were third in points allowed in 2013 (272), second in 2012 and second in 2011.
Darrell Bevell: The Seahawks beat out the 49ers by one game in the NFC West. They ranked 17th in yardage in 2013 but tied Green Bay for eighth in scoring with 417 points.
Bevell, 43, was the Vikings’ offensive coordinator from 2006 to 2010. He was not retained when Leslie Frazier was named the Vikings full-time head coach in 2011. Bevell was quickly hired by Seattle head coach Pete Carroll. He has been with the Seahawks for three years and helped develop quarterback Russell Wilson, a rookie in 2012. Wilson has a composite passer rating of 103.7 and a completion percentage of 64.5 percent over his two seasons in the league.
The Vikings have already interviewed Bevell and might just be waiting for the Seahawks season to end, but it is not too late for the Browns to ask permission to interview him.
Dan Quinn: Quinn is the first candidate the Browns interviewed in their search to replace Rob Chudzinski. The 2013 season was his first as the Seahawks defensive coordinator, but he is in his second tour with Seattle.
Quinn was the assistant head coach/defensive line coach in Seattle under Coach Jim Mora. Carroll retained him as defensive line coach in 2010, but Quinn left the Seahawks to be the defensive coordinator at Florida. The Gators defense finished in the top 10 in the nation in 2011 and 2012.
The Seahawks finished first in the league in team defense and first in the league in points allowed in 2013.
Adam Gase: Gase, 35, began the season as the NFL’s fourth-youngest offensive coordinator. He is in his fifth season with the Broncos but in his first as offensive coordinator.
The Browns seemingly have been infatuated with Gase since firing Chudzinski and probably before they finalized their decision to fire him.
Gase was the Broncos’ wide receivers coach in 2009 and 2010 under McDaniels. John Fox was named head coach in 2011. He not only retained Gase, he also promoted him to quarterbacks coach. It was an easy transition to offensive coordinator when Mike McCoy left that post with the Broncos after 2012 to be head coach of the San Diego Chargers.
The Broncos led the NFL in total offense and points scored by staggering amounts in 2013. They set an NFL record with 606 points, smashing the record of 587 set by the Patriots in 2007. The Bears were second in 2013 with 445 points.
The Broncos averaged 457.3 yards a game — 40 yards more than the second-place Philadelphia Eagles.
“He’s a guy that I saw the way he worked with the team and his position group even before he became the coordinator,” Fox told SI.com recently. “He’s a very quick thinker — a smart, intelligent guy, very tireless worker, an outstanding young coach.”
What the Browns have to decide is how much of the Broncos’ success is Peyton Manning and how much is Gase.
Bowles drops out, McAdoo to Giants
Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles has withdrawn his name for consideration for the Browns head coaching job, according to a report on Fox Sports. The Browns interviewed Bowles on Jan. 3 and by doing so satisfied the Rooney Rule that requires a team to interview at least one minority candidate for a head coaching opening. ... Packers quarterbacks coach Ben McAdoo, who interviewed with the Browns last week, has accepted the Giants’ offensive coordinator job, according to Judy Bautitsa of NFL.com.